Nacre tree

Common names: Conch, Monkey Skull

Scientific name: Khaya senegalensis

Plant family: Meliaceae (Orange)

Conch tree is a large tree with a height of 30-40m, a trunk diameter of 0.8-2m. The bark is gray-brown, the stem is smooth, the bark is smooth when young, when it is old, it forms black, cracked, coin-shaped scales like a skull peeling off the body. The tree has many branches, radiating in all directions, creating a spreading canopy of 10-15m wide, young branches tend to curve down.

Conch has double feathery leaves once even, the leaves grow from 3 to 6 pairs of leaflets. The leaflets are oval 6-12cm long, 3-5cm wide, the margins whole and the surface smooth green.

Conch tree has a cluster of inflorescences with small flowers with 4 white petals sticking together, flowers bloom in April-May. When the flowers fade, they form small capsules, when ripe, the shell is gray-brown, the shell is hard and thick, when ripe, it bursts into 4 pieces to disperse the seeds.

Conch is a light-loving plant, with a very fast growth and development rate, easy to grow, and easy to care for. Conch trees grown from seeds germinate very well, plants regenerated from buds and seeds are strong. Nacre grows well on many different types of soil, suitable for coastal sandy soils, adapted to the arid conditions of many mountainous areas...

Conch tree is less damaged by pests and diseases, except for a few species of insects, beetles, bacteria such as Hypsipyla robusta, Lytus spp, Xanthomonas traye.

Mother of pearl is often planted in rows along the streets as both landscape trees and shade trees. Trees are also planted along the fence to create shade for the villa's garden, planted into a forest for timber, bringing high economic value.

Public works such as parks, zoos, botanical gardens, office premises, schools, urban areas... also often use conch trees as trees to create shade and increase landscape green.

The wood of Nacre is a very good wood, the wood has a light red core, strong and beautiful, so it is used in shipbuilding, household furniture ...